The Truth
by ChocolateChipCookie25
Summary: One shot. Takes place during At World's End after Jack is saved from the locker. He and Elizabeth have a talk after he's rescued, and confess how they really feel about each other.


She had condemned a man to death. A man who had saved her life on more than one occasion, without any profit in it for him. A good man, a pirate. How could she be so selfish to take his life away from him? He was already hurting because of losing his ship, the Black Pearl, his most prized possession besides his compass. Elizabeth had never felt more guilt in her life, and she didn't know how she would be able to go on if they didn't find Jack and bring him back to the land of the living.

Elizabeth knew that Jack had done a lot of selfish things in his life, and had killed his fair share of people, but the people he killed were mostly bad people, or he would kill in self defense. Would Jack have done the same thing as she if the shoe were on the other foot? Jack was known for being tricky, but she really didn't know what he would have done if the circumstances were different. No matter what she said at the time, she was sorry. More sorry than she'd ever been in her life. Elizabeth had had time to think as they were making their ways to the ends of the earth. It seemed like she had betrayed a lot of people to get what she wanted, not just Jack. She had betrayed James by not telling him that the pirates were cursed on their journey to find Will, but then again, neither did Jack. Elizabeth knew that James wouldn't have risked going after Will if he knew they were cursed. So did Jack. That was the time he referred to them as peas in a pod. How many times has he said they were a lot alike? They both did selfish things, but deep down, cared about other people. Elizabeth never got a chance to apologize to James. She never told him how sorry she was for not telling him the truth, never told him how sorry she was for breaking his heart. Not to mention her own father. She never apologized to him, either.

Granted, Elizabeth felt guilt about every wrong doing she had ever done in her life, and she had no idea where James was, all she knew was that he had taken off with the heart of Davy Jones and given it to Beckett. She was furious with him for doing that. James was a pitiful sight, when she ran into him in Tortuga, and she felt deeply sorry for the man, but that sorrow went away as soon as she found out what he did. There was no way James would be able to earn her forgiveness for having doing what he did. Didn't James understand that Cutler Beckett was pure evil, and didn't care about anybody but himself? Maybe she was wrong about James, maybe he wasn't a fine man, after all. Then again, maybe he was. She didn't know. Everything was so confusing. It seemed like the men she cared about the most, were the ones who got hurt. Her father, James, Jack, Will. Will. He had been giving her the silent treatment ever since they abandoned Jack and the Pearl to the Kraken. But why? Did he know she left Jack to die? Did he see them kiss? That had to be it. What other explanation could there be?

These thoughts were running through her head as they searched the locker for Jack. Where was he? If they didn't find him soon, she was going to go mad. She needed to see that he was all right, needed to know that he would forgive her, and then she would resolve things with Will. It was all too much. She felt so alone. Nobody knew what she did except for Tia Dalma. That woman scared her a little bit. It was like she could read minds.

"Witty Jack is closer 'dan you 'tink."

And sure enough, there he was, alive and well. He was sitting by a tree, fumbling with his compass. He kept repeating, "I know what I want, I know what I want."

"Jack!"

Jack looked up, as Elizabeth ran to him and embraced him. He was caught off guard.

"I'm so sorry, Jack! So very sorry! Please forgive me!"

"Lizzie- you're choking me!"

"Oh! Sorry."

Elizabeth let him out of the embrace and turned to the others who were thrilled to see Jack alive and well. Except for Will, who looked heartbroken. Not by the fact that Jack was alive, goodness no, but because the woman he loved had just embraced another man. The man who had stolen her away from him.

Jack was happy to see everyone except for Barbossa, and had wanted to shoot him again, but Tia Dalma warned him not to, that they needed him for this journey. Jack reluctantly agreed, and they all boarded the ship to get the hell out of there.

Jack felt so happy to be back on the sea, and he couldn't wait to get out of there. It was boring as all get out.

"Jack, can we talk?"

Elizabeth stood next to him. He nodded, figuring what she wanted to talk about and motioned for her to follow him to the captain's quarters. Will saw them heading below and decided to follow them, so he could listen in at the door. He needed to know the truth.

"Rum, luv?"

"No, thank you. Jack, I'm sorry."

"Aye, I know. You apologized in the locker, remember?"

"Yes, but, I feel like I can't say it enough. Like I should be doing something to make it up to you."

"Did you or did you not come on this journey to rescue me? You wanted to set things right, as it were, and now you have. Savvy? You did what any other pirate would have done. You betrayed somebody to gain what you want. 'M proud of you, darling."

Elizabeth was shocked by these words. He was proud of her?

"But I condemned you to death. How can you be so forgiving about that?"

"Because you did it to save the others. Had you done it just to save yourself, that would be a different story, but you didn't. You did it to save the man you loved as well as everybody else. Remember, what I told you, I admire a person who's willing to do whatever's necessary. At least I got a kiss out of it."

Elizabeth smiled. She liked that Jack was so understanding and forgiving. He really was a good man, despite what he wanted everyone to believe. Suddenly, her smile turned into a frown as she thought about Will. Now that she had resolved things with Jack, she needed to resolve them with Will. Did she still love Will? Of course she did. She wouldn't have left Jack to die, if she didn't love Will.

"I know what you're thinking, Lizzie."

Elizabeth was quickly brought out of her thoughts by Jack's soft voice. No matter what she would say, deep down, she got a tingle in her body every time he called her Lizzie, or luv, or darling.

"What am I thinking, Jack?"

"About Will. About whether you still love him or not. You're thinking that how could you not love him after condemning someone to their death just to save his life. You're thinking, maybe you didn't realize you loved the wrong man, until after the one you truly loved was gone."

"I-I don't know what you mean."

"You do, luv. You know exactly what I mean. My speech about curiosity got to you. You wanted to know what it was like. To act on selfish impulse. Whether you left me to die or not, you've always wanted to kiss me. That kiss had been coming since the day I met you, dearie. After you left me to that terrible beastie, it made me want you even more. Not because you betrayed me, goodness no, but because you saved me royal crew. Curiosity got the better of me as well. Lizzie, I'm not one to admit my feelings right out, because let's face it, it's just not who I am, but, you have got to be one of the most beautiful women I've ever had the fortune to meet. No matter how many times were ripped apart, we always seem to be brought back together again. I love you, Elizabeth Swann. You can deny it all you want, but I know in your heart that you love me, too. You just didn't know it until after I was gone. Had you known before hand, you probably wouldn't have left me to die, but that's all water under the bridge now."

Elizabeth's jaw was hanging open. Did the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow just admit that he loved her?

Outside, Will had tears pouring down his cheeks. He knew that Elizabeth was going to choose Jack. Deep down, he always knew that Elizabeth cared about Jack more than she'd like to admit. He always hoped that it was just fascination with pirates, but nothing more. He was wrong. His heart almost tore in two, when he heard Elizabeth's response.

"I love you so much, Jack."

With that, Will walked away from the cabin door and back up on deck. He had lost Elizabeth. Lost the woman he had loved since they age of twelve. Elizabeth never loved him. Well, she loved him, yes, but she wasn't in love with him. There was a difference between loving somebody and being in love with somebody. Will now knew that he had to stab the heart. Had to kill Davy Jones and rescue his father. Even if he didn't have Elizabeth anymore, he wouldn't be completely alone. He would have his father. All Will had wanted was for Elizabeth to be happy, and if Jack made her happy, then that was all that mattered. He knew soon that she would be coming up to break off their engagement, and he would understand. He wasn't angry with her. Wasn't angry at Jack. For even if Jack hadn't come back into their life, chances were it wouldn't have worked out anyway.

"Good-bye, Elizabeth," he said quietly to himself.

THE END


End file.
